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A1 Team USA racer Jonathan Summerton believes the new A1GP season will be a ‘driver’s series’ more than ever before with the introduction of the new A1GP Powered by Ferrari car.

Summerton, who finally won the USA’s first race in Shanghai, China last season in its 62nd race, has been eagerly looking at the exclusive photos and video footage provided on A1GP.com of testing of the new car in the off-season.

And Summerton believes, just from seeing the pictures and video footage, that the new car will place the emphasis on drivers’ ability more than ever before.

“You won’t be able to get away with as much as you did in the old car,” Summerton told A1GP.com from his home in Florida. “It won’t accept lightweights. The good drivers will be able to find the limits of the car a bit quicker, and will be able to control it within those limits better.

“They will still need to have a good set-up, alongside good pit stops from the team, but it will also be down to which driver can learn the car the quickest and control it the best.

“The car is going to have more horsepower, and with the new engine going to be about 600bhp, it is going to be a kick in the butt, that’s for sure. Drivers are going to have to be controlling the [throttle] pedal better.

“It also may not be as forgiving as the last car. You could get it in a bit of a slide and get away with it before, but I think the new car will spin round quickly. But looking at the way A1GP is trying to make the series, with good close racing, it should be alright. It’s going to be a bit of a different feeling compared to the old car, but that’s expected.

“It is going to take high speed corners a lot better than the old car did, because the aerodynamics look a lot better. But when the car decides to go [when control is lost] it will all go a bit quicker. It could all come down to the handling characteristics of the new tyres.”

The 20-year-old praised the visual characteristics of the car, and is hoping to get the opportunity to test the USA’s in the off-season, should he be recalled by the team. Summerton is the most-capped USA driver, with 24 starts to his name.

"The car is looking pretty good, and without the big rear tyres, it definitely looks a very appealing car,” he added. “The shape, the design, the lines of it all, all give for a very nice visual appearance. Where the front wing end plates were flat, they now have a little swoop to them. It makes it nicer, those little things.”

The opening round of the 2008-09 A1GP season, which had been scheduled to take place at Italy's Mugello circuit on 20-21 September, has been cancelled because of a delay in building the series' new Ferrari-powered chassis.

The cancellation means that Zandvoort in the Netherlands, originally round two on the calendar, will now host the opening round of the 'World Cup of Motorsport' on the weekend of 4-5 October.

According to series organisers, the 11-month deadline set to design, build and test the new car and also deliver chassis to competing teams was always going to be tight.

A1GP Chief Executive Officer, Pete da Silva said: "It was always going to be an optimistic programme but we were confident we could achieve it. This in no way reflects on the work undertaken by the technical team and our partners, as it was due to circumstances beyond their control.

"I also want to thank all our technical partners for their support during our intensive testing programme, and especially Ferrari for the supply of engines.

"We now have to concentrate on what we have ahead of us rather than behind. We still have some great announcements to make. In the near future we shall be able to announce our full race calendar, as well as some deals that will enhance the overall package we are presenting to our fans for Season Four."

According to sources of Autosportnieuws.be there are a lack of cars ready for the A1Teams.

Supposedly, according to their sources, there are only 9 cars ready for action and doubts that all the teams would get a car in time for the opening round of season four at Zandvoort, The Netherlands, on 5th October 2008.

Zandvoort was recently promoted to being the opening round following the cancellation of original opener at Mugello, Italy.

If this 'source' is correct then A1GP 'powered by Ferrari' are really in crisis.

Even if they manage to turn up at Zandvoort with enough cars will the teams and drivers have had enough time to get to grips with this brand new, and unknown, package of new chassis, engine, electronics and tyres?

A1GP World Cup of Motorsport will start Season Four next week at the A1GP Zandvoort, Netherlands event on 4/5 October with a smaller grid than anticipated. The series has made no secret of its car build delay, and this has impacted on the number that will be on the grid at the Dutch seaside resort track

“The situation we find ourselves in is unfortunate. We have a small number of teams who will not be in Zandvoort. While these teams are obviously very disappointed, they understand we have done everything possible but just ran out of time,” said A1GP CEO, Pete da Silva.

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This source was right! Some cars are not ready yet. But the Zandvoort GP will count for the championship.. I think this is not fair for the teams who don't have a car yet.. But they also can't affort to cancel a race again.

#99 | Roaring Pipes Maniacs

This source was right! Some cars are not ready yet. But the Zandvoort GP will count for the championship.. I think this is not fair for the teams who don't have a car yet.. But they also can't affort to cancel a race again.

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Apparently they have brought in a rule this season that each team can drop their worst racing weekend. I wonder why?

Ok for the teams that raced but for the teams that didn`t they don`t have much choice really (Germany and GB will probably want to drop Zandvoort).

FounderStaffPremium

A1GP World Cup of Motorsport heads to Chengdu International Circuit in Sichuan province in the south west of China for round two of the 10-event series on 7-9 November.

This new track to the series has a lot to live up to in terms of entertainment after a thrilling season-opener at Zandvoort. Held in treacherous wet conditions last month, Malaysia’s Fairuz Fauzy took the team’s first victory in 27 races and France’s Loïc Duval take the Feature race win.A1 Team China was in action last week testing at Silverstone in the UK with both Ho-Pin Tung and Congfu Cheng getting a chance behind the wheel of the new Powered by Ferrari car. The team is yet to announce which driver will be in the race seat for its home event, but both were equally keen to get the opportunity, although neither would have any advantage because Chengdu is unknown territory to them.Tung was recalled to race in the season-opener at Zandvoort last month to start China’s Season Four campaign. Talking about the team’s hopes for the season, he said: “I am pretty confident we should be able to rack up the first win for China this year, and we should also be able to finish much higher in the championship than we have done so far. “I think we’ve got a really strong team, everybody is working well, and cooperation is really good. I am happy and confident that we should be able to do a good job and be one of the front running teams this season.”

FounderStaffPremium

Marco Andretti has been confirmed as the USA’s driver for this weekend’s second championship round in Chengdu, China.As team boss Michael Andretti indicated was likely in Zandvoort, his 21-year-old son will pilot the car for the series maiden visit to Chengdu, after Charlie Kimball returned to race in Zandvoort last month.“Getting to race in China is something I’m really looking forward to,” Marco said. “Although A1GP is new to Andretti Green Racing, I thought that the crew did a great job with the first race. They had to put in a lot of effort just to get on track and they were able to get the car up to speed rather quickly. “I know there is a possibility that the weather could add another element to the race and that should only make the race more challenging for the drivers and more entertaining for the fans.”

FounderStaffPremium

Unavailable for selection in Zandvoort, International Formula Master champion van der Drift has appeared twice for New Zealand in rookie sessions, topping the times at Brands Hatch last season, but has yet to make his race debut. Having tested the new A1GP Powered by Ferrari car in the off season, the 22-year-old’s experience of pit stops in GP2 Asia was key in him getting the nod for this weekend.

FounderStaffPremium

A1GP Zandvoort Feature Race winner Loic Duval believes Nicolas Prost shouldn't feel any pressure on his shoulders when making his A1GP race debut this weekend - because of the new sporting regulations imposed this season.

Racing for your nation in A1GP always means the driver carries the hope of their nation and in Chengdu this weekend it will be the first time that rookie Nicolas – son of four-time Formula 1 world champion Alain Prost – has raced in A1GP.